Mexican president's thyroid surgery successful

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2012 file photo, Mexico's newly sworn-in President Enrique Pena Nieto acknowledges applause after delivering his inaugural speech at the National Palace in Mexico City. A top aide says the Wednesday, July 31, 2013 surgery on the Mexican leader to remove a thyroid nodule went smoothly and exactly as planned. Chief-of-Staff Aurelio Nuno says Pena Nieto is awake and has returned to his room in the Central Military Hospital. (AP Photo/Christian Palma, File)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Surgery on President Enrique Pena Nieto to remove a thyroid nodule Wednesday was successful and went exactly as planned, his staff and surgeon said.

The nodule showed no signs of malignancy, said his surgeon, Brig. Gen. Juan Felipe Sanchez.

"The results are very good," Sanchez told reporters in a news conference after the surgery.

Pena Nieto, 47, was awake and recovering in his room in the Central Military Hospital after the procedure that took less than two hours, said Chief-of-Staff Aurelio Nuno.

He will spend two days in the hospital and two more of recovery, holding private work meetings. He will return to his full schedule next week.

"He's very happy," Nuno said, adding that his wife, Angelica Rivera, and children were with him in the hospital.

No one was designated to act in his place during that time. Mexico's Constitution says nothing about such brief periods of incapacity.

Thyroid nodules are common in the general population and not considered a serious medical condition, said Dr. Oded Tempa, an endocrinologist at Mexico City's ABC Hospital.

If they protrude or can be felt, they need to be tested for malignancy, he said.

A Pena Nieto staff person said last week that a biopsy of the nodule proved benign.